1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine having reciprocating pistons operating within a cylinder or cylinders.
2. Prior Art
The reciprocating internal combustion engine has for nearly a century mechanized the industrial world. However, the conservation of energy has forced the search for lighter and more efficient engines. Manufacturers, in particular automotive engine manufacturers, have focused more on refinements of old designs and technically complex engines, and have even recently attempted to develop two-cycle engines for automotive use despite the notorious emission problems inherent in two-cycle engines.
The present invention provides a lightweight, technically simple, high power-to-weight ratio engine with relatively few parts. The arrangement of a plurality of pistons within a common cylinder provides for multiplication of work being done by each piston. Another benefit of the invention is the development of high torque at relatively low revolutions per minute. The invention of this disclosure may be provided with a conventional valve train. Alternatively, the engine may be provided with a rotor in each combustion chamber, affixed to the crankshaft, that cooperates with the intake and exhaust ports in each combustion chamber by closing and opening each port in proper time with the cycle of each piston, thereby eliminating conventional valves, lifters, push rods, cam shafts, and the like.
Another benefit of the provision of the rotor is its shielding of the spark plug electrodes from the cylinder chamber through most of the pistons' cycles, thereby extending the life and efficiency of the spark plug.
Another benefit of the present invention is an engine that provides a more uniform load on the crankshaft than a conventional reciprocating engine. In the four piston, four-cycle embodiment, this invention provides the equivalent of eight power cycles for each crankshaft revolution compared to a conventional four cylinder four cycle engine that provides two power cycles for each revolution of the crankshaft. In the embodiments herein described, the arrangement of pistons alternately moving away from and towards another, provides in a four-cycle embodiment, pistons that are subject to a power cycle half the time, and in a two-cycle embodiment, pistons that are subject to a power cycle each time axial movement direction of the piston reverses.
Another benefit of the invention is the provision of an engine that allows the revolutions of the crankshaft and piston cycle relationship to be modified or varied by changes in the pattern and/or frequency of the interior and exterior grooves in the piston. This benefit is useful in that four-cycle or two-cycle engines with various torque/revolution relationships, as necessitated by different applications or uses of engines may be provided by the basic design of this invention.